SINGAPORE, 4 July 2018 – Netball Singapore today announced the 14-member squad who will be travelling to New Zealand for the second of three training tours ahead of the M1 Asian Netball Championships (ANC) in September 2018.

The Singapore team will travel to Auckland to compete in six matches, including games against ANZ Premiership side Northern Mystics and the Beko Netball League team Northern Marvels, as part of the nine-day New Zealand training tour from 7 to 15 July. 

After standout performances in the M1 Netball Super League (NSL) earlier this year, new national squad players Lee Pei Shan and Khor Ting Fang have continued to impress and have earned their spots in the traveling squad of 14. Both Lee and Khor were an integral part of the winning 2017 Asian Youth Championship team, who took the title after beating Malaysia in the finals with a score of 47-43. For Lee and Khor, aged 18 and 21 respectively, this presents a great chance for them to compete at pace against the bigger and stronger New Zealand
bodies.

Also included in the team is 22-year-old defender Sindhu Nair, who earned her first International cap during the team’s training tour to Sri Lanka earlier this year. Since her national call-up a year ago following several commanding performances in the 2017 M1 NSL, Nair has performed consistently which has led to her selection for the Sri Lanka training tour against the Sri Lanka National and Development teams during the Quadrangular Netball Tournament.

Bringing height to Singapore’s defence, 1.96m-tall Chen Lili is another key inclusion in the team traveling to New Zealand, following a six-month layoff after she tore her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) during last year’s Mission Foods Nations Cup. After working hard through the rehabilitation program, the team’s doctor has cleared Chen to train in New Zealand, with an aim of competing in a few quarters across the six matches. 

Chen’s load will be closely managed by National Head Coach Natalie Milicich and the team’s physiotherapist, as Chen makes her way back into competitive netball. The height of Chen will be crucial to Singapore’s charge for the title as she will be key to countering taller Goal Shooters (GS) during the tournament, such as Sri Lanka’s towering shooter Tharjini Sivalingam, who stands at 2.06m. 

Following the national team’s third place finish at the 2017 Mission Foods Nations Cup, Milicich’s focus has been growing player strength ahead of her second major tournament as National Head Coach at the M1 ANC.

“Key to the development of the National Squad is strength with rigorous gym sessions a weekly part of the training approach. To assess how we are progressing on the court, we have organised a second training camp in New Zealand to test the players capabilities against stronger-bodied, often taller players that are accustomed to playing at a high intensity. 

“The training tour in New Zealand presents the opportunity to trial our structures and combinations with the 14-member squad in tough match conditions, which will ultimately help prepare the team for the upcoming M1 ANC, where we hope to do Singapore proud,” said Milicich.

For the first time since the tournament’s inception in 1985, there will be a total of 12 teams competing for the trophy at the M1 ANC. The tournament serves as the regional qualifier for the Netball World Cup, where the top two teams will travel to Liverpool, England, to compete
in the world championship next year.

Singapore last hosted and won the Asian Netball Championships in 2014 and this year’s event will take place at the Singapore Sports Hub, from 1 to 9 September 2018.